The Korea Herald

Taiwan orders TV station to reduce S. Korean programs

Jan 3, 2012

HONG KONG (Yonhap News) -- Taiwan's national broadcasting regulator has ordered a local TV station to cut its broadcast time for Korean dramas in a bid to encourage development of local content, officials said Tuesday. Upon the request of the Taiwanese National Communications Commission (NCC), Gala Television (GTV) will reduce the proportion of South Korean shows on its soap opera-dedicated chan...
Number of Japanese households that can view 'hallyu' channel tops 4 million

Dec 2, 2011

The number of Japanese households that can watch a South Korean satellite channel specializing in Korean pop culture has exceeded 4 million, the channel said Friday, indicating its growing popularity in the neighboring country. KBS Japan said more than 4 million Japanese households can view popular South Korean TV dramas, films and music programs on a channel provided through Japan's Sky Perfect...
Overseas 'hallyu' fan clubs estimated to have 3.3 million members

Nov 1, 2011

The government Tuesday estimated the number of overseas fans of Korean pop culture at 3.3 million, indicating the "Korean Wave," also known as the "hallyu," is a significant force in many Asian, European and American countries. There were an estimated 182 hallyu fan clubs with a combined 3.3 million members in some 20 regions where a South Korean government-run Korean Cultural Center is located,...
K-pop’s slick productions win fans across Asia

Sept 22, 2011

MANILA (AP) ― How did Seoul become Asia’s capital of cool? Even here in the Philippines, once an undisputed bastion of American pop and Hollywood movies, South Korean pop music, soap operas and fashion are now all the rage. “I want the same brown, but slightly blonde color, as Sandara’s hair,” says 22-year-old hotel worker Kins Wu, referring to girl band singer Sandara Park as she sifts through...
Nimble entrepreneurs help Korean Wave go global

Aug 29, 2011

Web startups see business opportunities by making digital tools to tackle language barriers As the Internet has paved the way for instant, worldwide access to Korean pop songs and soap operas, nimble startups are capitalizing on the demand for the country’s top cultural exports by making digital tools to tackle language barriers and digital piracy. Since the 1990s, Korean pop culture has been i...
K-pop’s second wave

Aug 21, 2011

Music mania boosts local tourism, export of hallyu cultural content Following Korean pop concerts in June in Paris, the K-pop industry is enjoying a second Korean Wave around the globe. This is the first installment of a two-part series of articles looking at the bright and dark sides of K-pop. ― Ed. Xing Lin, a Harvard University student who visited Seoul for a summer school program at Ewha Wo...
KARA to promote K-pop festival

Aug 9, 2011

Hallyu star girl group KARA has been appointed as PR ambassador for 2011 K-pop Cover Dance Festival, which begins its second round competition on Sept. 3. The festival celebrates the “cover dance” videos that K-pop fans around the globe are currently submitting online through www.coverdance.org for the preliminary round of the competition. The cover dance refers to emulating of the original chor...
Polish fans protest for K-pop concert

Aug 2, 2011

Some 300 young Polish fans hold a rally in Warsaw on July 30 expressing hope for a K-pop concert in their country. (Yonhap News)
Hallyu star Ryu Si-won wins car racing competition

Jul 25, 2011

Ryu Si-won celebrates his victory at the Ferrari Challenge Race in Shanghai, Monday. (Yonhap) Korean wave star Ryu Si-won and his car racing team won an international race in China on Monday, according to reports. The 39-year-old celebrity won the second round of the Ferrari Challenge Race in Shanghai. Last month, Ryu won the first round of the race at Zhuhai City of Guangdong Province. “I fe...
KCC to strenghten protection of Korean copyright overseas

Jul 4, 2011

The new chairman of the Korea Copyright Commission said on Monday that he will enhance copyright protection of Korean content overseas, especially as Korean pop music, TV dramas and animation are quickly spreading in cyberspace. Yu Byong-han, who took office on Friday, said he will expand its overseas offices from the current three in Beijing, Shanghai and Bangkok to other destinations including...
K-pop drives hallyu craze: survey

Jun 13, 2011

English speakers favor Super Junior, French and Spanish are Big Bang fans Korean pop, or K-pop, is driving the Korean Wave abroad and Asian women in their 20s make up the majority of overseas hallyu fans, a survey found on Monday. The Korea Tourism Organization conducted the online hallyu survey on 12,085 non-Korean visitors from 102 countries to its website (www.visitkorea.or.kr) from May 11 t...
Korean pop groups hold first concert in Paris

Jun 12, 2011

(Yonhap News) PARIS (Yonhap News) -- Five South Korean pop bands held their first concert in Paris on Friday, making a successful debut on the European stage in front of more than 7,000 eager fans. Popular acts TVXQ, Girls‘ Generation, Super Junior, SHINee and f(x) put on a three-hour performance at Le Zenith de Paris concert hall, singing a total of 44 songs for the fans, who had come from all...
S. Korean pop groups arrive in Paris for shows amid fanfare

Jun 9, 2011

PARIS, June 8 (Yonhap) -- Some of South Korea's biggest pop groups arrived on Wednesday in the French capital for upcoming concerts amid much fanfare, as hundreds of eager French fans greeted their favorite artists at the largest airport here. Popular acts TVXQ, SHINee and f(x), all managed by South Korean agency S.M. Entertainment, landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport, with about 700 members of ...
K-pop theater to open in Japan

May 12, 2011

A concert hall specially designated for K-pop will open in Tokyo amid increasing popularity of Korean entertainers in the country. The 198-seat facility, to open on May 27, will be located at Yebisu Garden Place, a popular tourist site for shopping and entertainment. The operator expects that it will accommodate audiences of up to 120,000 a year. According to Sankei Sports, a local newspaper, ...
Remote Indian state hooked on Korean wave

May 9, 2011

IMPHAL, India (AFP) ― When separatist rebels in the remote Indian state of Manipur banned Hindi movies a decade ago, they had little idea it would trigger a cultural invasion from a country more than 2,000 miles away. But when Bollywood was forced out, the Koreans moved in. In the markets of the state capital Imphal, shops are packed with DVDs of South Korean films and television soap operas, a...